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All posts for the month December, 2013

Every year is a mixture of ups and downs. If someone had an all good year, they’re lying to you.

That’s the way you should view every year. There will be good things, there will be bad things. You will love things, you will have lost other things. But that’s an important part of life. You can’t hope no bad things will happen to you, because you will be sorely disappointed. But you can hope as many good things happen to you as possible, and you can hope that in the end, your life will be a grand adventure. That’s what life is. A grand adventure.

No adventure is complete without good things and bad things. You can only hope to overcome the bad things so you can go and get to the good things. The good things mean more if there are bad things, and if you don’t want the good things enough, you’re just throwing yourself into a brick wall and falling over. You’re giving up.

So, all you can do for this moment is dream of having that grand adventure, and be hopeful that the good things are truly as great as they sound. You can’t hope that this year will be better than the next, because only you can make that happen. It’s your own adventure, so make something amazing out of it.

Because remember…

So, cheers to the grand adventure waiting for us in 2014. It will have its ups and downs. We will gain amazing new people, amazing new friends, and amazing new experiences. But we will also gain wisdom from the experiences that aren’t that amazing, and we’ll be stronger because of it.

Well, I promised you I’d do a roundup with quick reviews of all the books I fell behind on… So here it is. From November 13, 2012- November 13, 2013, I read 41 books.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

El Principito by Antoine De Saint Exupery

Carrie by Stephen King

Battle Royale by Koushin Takami

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Shada by Douglas Adams and Gareth Roberts

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Matched by Ally Condie

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin

Nevermore by James Patterson

A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan (Started falling behind on reviews about here.) Quick review: ★★★

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini: ★★★

Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie ★★★

A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin ★★★★

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien ★★★★

A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin ★★★★★

Light by Michael Grant ★★★★★

Death by Petticoat: American History Myths Debunked by Mary Miley Theobald ★★★★

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald ★★★★★

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote ★★★

Witchlanders by Lena Coakley ★★

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman ★★★★★

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ★★★★★

The Color of Water by James McBride ★★★

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor ★★★★★

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman ★★★★★

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor ★★★★★

Now, what’s next for 2014? I’ll be restarting my book challenge on January 1, 2014. What would I personally do differently?

Sometimes it’s fun to have competition. I made a group on GoodReads you can join and participate with me and other people. The person who reads the most books gets bragging rights. Yay, bragging rights.

I’m going to try to avoid the library this year. I have too many books on my shelf I need to read, and I need to get those done first. I have a dream to have more books than the Library of Congress. It may not be done, but I’ll try and get awful dang close. Right now I have over 200 books neatly organized in my closet because that’s where my shelf will fit. The books trail out beside the case. Yeah, I have a book-buying problem. I don’t care.

Yes, I’ll try to be better about reviews.

I’ll try and beat my record of 41.

Other than that, I’ll try to be better about posting in 2014. I’m a little scatterbrained at times, in case you couldn’t tell. I need to either set up a better schedule for posting that I can follow religiously or at least set my calender reminders. Maybe both. I’ll figure something out.